Chapter 3: The Corpse's Return

  As soon as the voice fell, Second Master took his hand away. I really saw the old lady close her eyes. It's a bit eerie. Just now, Second Master didn't hesitate to help the old lady close her eyes, but this old lady refused to close her eyes no matter what. Who would have thought that after all this, the old lady actually closed her eyes? Is it possible that in the underworld, there really is a ghostly presence, and the old lady's spirit in heaven heard Second Master's words and fulfilled her wish by closing her eyes?

  My second master and I both let out a sigh of relief, seeing my second master take a white handkerchief and gently cover the old lady's face with it, thus cutting off all her connections with the world, no longer having to watch the things of the world, until now, everything was done thoroughly.

  The Second Master seemed a bit tired, let out a sigh, and tottered towards the chair on one side, presumably to sit down and rest for a while. I naturally hurried after him in that direction as well; staying alone by the corpse didn't seem like a good idea to me.

  "Two wins, pass on to Ming, your mother can finally rest her eyes. After burning the paper, kowtow a few more times for your mother. Your mother didn't have an easy life and didn't enjoy much good fortune. You two brothers, ah... say some comforting words to your mother so she can leave with a smile." Second Master sighed, without turning his head, gave these instructions to the Yang brothers, making them look embarrassed as they burned the paper, their faces uncertain in the flickering flames.

  Actually, the second master said this with a reason. These two brothers are not filial in the village, and everyone knows about it. The old lady lived alone before her death in the two small rooms behind Yang Ersheng's house, without even electricity, and they didn't take care of the old lady much. Fortunately, the old lady was healthy and didn't need to worry about the brothers. The eldest son had a son and a daughter, the second son had two sons, three grandsons and granddaughters, plus the two brothers and their wives, who were all cold-blooded people, so it's not necessary to mention how they treated the old lady. Only one girl, named Yang Xiufeng, was close to the old lady. She was a pretty girl, two years younger than me. From childhood, she would often come to help the old lady with chores during her free time after school, such as sweeping and helping with cooking. When there were braised meat or chicken at home, Yang Xiufeng would secretly send some to the old lady. Fortunately, although Yang Ersheng didn't take care of the old lady himself, he didn't stop Yang Xiufeng from being filial either. Even if he knew about it, he was too lazy to say anything. The food supply for the old lady was also not cut off.

  Now everyone understands why the second master said that, but the Yang brothers didn't dare to argue at this time. They were burning paper and whispering something in a low voice, probably saying some nice words to their deceased mother, so as to send the old lady off peacefully and have fewer troubles.

  The mountain wind rushed in at night, blowing the daylight bulbs in the mourning hall to flicker constantly. Everyone's face was also changing colors constantly, and what made people even more annoyed was that the white cloth covering the old lady's body was always being blown up by the mountain wind, and there were weights on it to prevent it from being blown away. In the ceramic basin in front of the mourning bed, the burning paper money sent flames soaring, looking especially eerie in the darkness.

  The old man had been busy all day and was already very tired. I even heard his faint snoring, so I hesitated for a moment and took off my jacket to cover him with it. The mountain wind at night was quite cool, and wearing more clothes would prevent the old man from catching cold. But as soon as I moved, the old man opened his eyes lightly, pushed the clothes away: "Don't mind me, I'm not asleep, just resting with my eyes closed for a while. Hurry up and put your jacket on, it's windy at night and you'll catch a chill."

  As he said that, he took off his coat and was about to hand it over to me. However, just as I reached out to take the coat, an unforgettable incident occurred. A sudden gust of cold wind swept in, making me shiver uncontrollably. My hand failed to grasp the coat firmly, and it fell to the ground. The fat dog beside us also shivered with fear, muttering: "What a cold wind! It's freezing to death!"

  But all of this was just the beginning of a strange change. As I bent down to pick up the coat on the ground, the cold mountain wind started again, and it became even stranger. It seemed as if an invisible hand had slapped the ceramic basin where the paper money was being burned, instantly blowing the ashes into the air, and the flames that had just risen were extinguished in an instant. Suddenly, everything before my eyes turned dark.

  The Second Master jumped in fright, his face showing a look of panic and terror as he stared at the ceramic basin. He suddenly stood up, but before he could do anything, there was a loud "crack" sound, and the ceramic basin suddenly shattered on its own, shattering into pieces all over the floor, scaring the two Yang brothers so much that they let out an involuntary scream of terror.

  The mountain wind grew more urgent, blowing the entire canopy of the shrine to make a rustling sound, as if it were a series of wailing ghosts. The originally dim lamp flickered on and off, and even the clothes on my body made a rustling sound. What a strong mountain wind, what a strange and eerie mountain wind.

  Second Master's face was as calm as water, his eyes piercingly gazing out into the dark night, as if he had discovered something. I followed Second Master's gaze and looked over, only to be astonished to find that the night outside was still as dull as ever. From far away came the sound of frogs croaking and crickets chirping, and on the west side of the village stood several large willow trees, towering above, without even a single leaf rustling. Everything seemed just like my own illusion.

  I, Fat Dog, and Zhu Zi Ge were huddled together in a heap, our faces filled with terror as we stared at the bizarre scene before us. Meanwhile, the Yang brothers had already been scared out of their wits, sitting on the floor in front of the coffin, shivering with fear, their mouths agape but unable to make a sound. Their faces were even whiter than the white cloth covering the corpse, which made me think of something clever - the wind blowing through the white cloth, causing it to billow up in places, and in some areas, it had even been blown out from under the stone base. As for the piece of cloth that was supposed to cover the old lady's face, who knows where it had gone? In the light of the lamps, her pale face seemed to be emitting a faint blue glow.

  I swallowed my saliva, and I was about to shift my gaze away from the old lady's face. But just then, a scene that would be etched in my memory forever occurred. The old lady's eyes, which seemed to have been closed, suddenly opened wide, emitting a cold aura. Her icy stare met mine for an instant, and I can guarantee that there was something in those eyes. At that moment, the terrifying anomaly almost scared me into urinating, but not quite. However, it did scare me so much that my body went limp, and I couldn't stay seated on the chair anymore. I slid to the ground, knocking over the chair, which crashed onto the floor with a loud "clang".

  The old man thought something had happened to me, turned around in a panic and looked at me, only to find that I had just fallen over. He let out a sigh of relief, but when he saw my face, which was already distorted with fear, the old man was startled again. He followed the direction I was pointing and his face changed color instantly. He couldn't help but exclaim "ah" and took a step back in fright.

  At this time, the mountain wind slowly began to stop, but the terrifying change had not passed, everything was just beginning. Just as Second Master took a step back, I discovered in horror that the old lady's mouth slowly opened, and with one breath, she spat out the sealed money from her mouth. The copper coins rolled off the spiritual bed and fell to the ground, making a crisp sound, drawing everyone's attention over.

  But that's not all, the hush money was spat out and fell to the ground, and then the money in both hands was also thrown out. One of them rolled all the way to Yang Jia'er's feet, and then rolled into the gap between Yang Chuanming's legs, which were split open, and hit his thigh root, almost hitting his vitals. Upon closer inspection, Yang Chuanming's crotch was already wet, and there was a faint patch on the ground.

  If it were just that, I wouldn't have specifically mentioned the copper coin. The reason is that after the copper coin rolled very far, it hit Yang Chuanming's thigh root. Originally, there shouldn't be anything wrong with that, of course, that's according to common sense. However, everything tonight has exceeded common sense. It was just a copper coin, but it made Yang Chuanming let out a loud cry of pain, hugging his thigh root and rolling around on the ground. The ear-piercing cries of pain, Yang Chuanming's waxen face, all showed how much pain Yang Chuanming was in. Of course, no one else knew about this kind of pain.

  No one paid attention to Yang Chuanming, and even Yang Ersheng subconsciously kept a distance from his younger brother. My gaze, along with that of Pang Dogzi and Zhuang Ge, fell on Yang Chuanming. At the time, I didn't understand why a small copper coin could make Yang Chuanming scream like a slaughtered pig.

  However, there was one person who didn't look away, and that was my second uncle. His entire attention was focused on the old lady, who was acting very strangely. She opened her eyes, which had already been closed, and even spat out a wad of cash, abandoning the money for buying a road. What would happen next? My second uncle had spent most of his life dealing with dead people, so he understood the ins and outs of this situation very well. Although he hadn't encountered such a strange occurrence before, that didn't mean he didn't know what was going to happen.

  The old lady moved, her hands struggling to turn over, the stiff joints creaking out a faint "crackling" sound as they twisted. The somewhat deformed skull also seemed to be lifting up. Second Master's face changed again, realizing what was about to happen next, remembering the stories the elderly used to tell, and no longer daring to hesitate, let out a low growl, then pounced on the old lady, instantly pinning her in his arms, and firmly holding down one of her hands, not letting it turn over.

  "What the hell are you all standing there for, hurry up and help! We can't let the old lady turn her palm over, or she'll come back to life in a minute. Everyone here will be doomed, dead people don't recognize their relatives." Second Master was very anxious, it was the first time I heard him swear, and it could be seen that the situation was really critical. I hesitated for a moment, and subconsciously rushed up too, imitating Second Master's actions, holding down the old lady's other hand.